


To Celebrate This Night We've Found Each Other

by brianmay_be



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Boys In Love, Discussions of sexuality, Episode: s01e01 Currahee, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Romance, Secret Crush, a tiny bit of angst, basically just very tender vintage army romance, bisexual!george, but not really, george singing love songs, helplessly head-over-heels joe, just a smidge, tipsy george
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23885377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brianmay_be/pseuds/brianmay_be
Summary: “Listen,” Joe said, almost in a growl. Oh, how easy it would be to kiss him, to feel that famous George Luz smile. Joe was warm and flushed with drinking, satisfied and proud that he was a paratrooper at last, and caught hook, line, and sinker for the company jokester. Anything was possible tonight.or;At the party celebrating their certification as paratroopers, Joe and George are tipsy and happy and can’t keep their eyes off each other. When Joe walks George back to barracks afterwards, George admits he doesn’t want to go off to war without having kissed a boy, and Joe decides tonight’s the night to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Relationships: George Luz/Joseph Toye
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	To Celebrate This Night We've Found Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, another LuzToye fic about that moment where Joe takes George by the collar across the bar at the Currahee party. I couldn't resist! I think I talk about how much Joe loves George's smile more than anything else in this fic, which I think is completely valid. As always, come see me on my HBO War tumblr, [@eugenebondurant](https://eugenebondurant.tumblr.com/), and yell about these idiots in love with me :)

“Corporal Toye!”

Joe straightened up immediately at the title, lifting his head from where he’d had it bent over the bar. He’d been taking a break from the card games and enjoying the fuzzy warmth that came with having more than a few beers, something he hadn’t had a chance to enjoy since before boot camp. That nasally voice was just enough to sober him up, though, and he looked up fully expecting to see Sobel scowling down at him from across the bar.

He relaxed his shoulders when he saw it was only George, his face flushed and his expression one of poorly hidden mirth behind that fake frown he wore for effect.

“There will be _no leaning_ in my company,” he said stiffly, just like Sobel would. It was impressive, considering how drunk he was; Joe couldn’t help but crack a smile. George sauntered over to the bar and leaned his arms across the top, his face level with Joe’s chest.

“Are those... _dusty_ jump wings?” George asked, looking up at Joe from under those long lashes. Joe looked down at his brand-new jump wings, the silver catching the warm light of the room, and brushed his thumb over them with pride.

“How do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings?” George demanded.

Joe gave George a crooked smile, amused and impressed at his spot-on Sobel impression. George Luz was the funniest guy Joe had ever met, and Joe loved listening to George do all sorts of impressions. He’d done one of Joe only a few days after they met, and Joe had been portrayed in George’s voice and swagger as a burly, scary, commanding kind of man. It had made Joe laugh and had stuck with him, reminding him to be a little softer towards George.

This time, though, he decided to play it up a little; he took George by the collar and pulled him close, studying those pretty features he’d been enamored of ever since he saw George step off the bus their first day at Toccoa. George has the most endearing looks of anyone Joe had ever met: that messy hair that just wouldn’t stay combed, those big brown eyes with laugh lines permanently showing, that goofy smile that made Joe’s heart beat a little bit faster every time he saw it.

“Listen,” Joe said, almost in a growl. Oh, how easy it would be to kiss him, to feel that famous George Luz smile. Joe was warm and flushed with drinking, satisfied and proud that he was a paratrooper at last, and caught hook, line, and sinker for the company jokester. Anything was possible tonight.

He cocked his head and met George’s eyes. “Just get me a drink.”

A grin spread over George’s face and Joe reluctantly let him go, letting the glow of that smile wash over him.

“Hell of an idea, Joe,” George said in his usual voice, all sweet and gentle. “There you go.” He took a beer from the other side of the bar and placed it in front of Joe, leaning in close again with his own glass in hand.

“Three miles up, three miles down,” George said, raising his glass in a toast.

Joe tapped his glass against George’s, feeling there was no better way to pay homage to Currahee than with a long drink.

“Ten-hut!”

Drinks forgotten, Joe and George snapped to attention along with everybody else in the room, chairs scraping and boots thumping on the hardwood floor. Joe watched as Colonel Sink came in with his posse, the almost hidden smile on his face belying the seriousness of his entrance.

“Well, at ease, paratroopers,” he said in his easy drawl, standing before them on the dais. Joe relaxed his posture and felt a thrill of pride at the title that he was sure every one of his buddies shared. 

“Good evening, Easy Company,” Sink said genially.

“Good evening, sir,” they echoed back in unison.

Sink smiled. “Now, parachute infantry is a brand-new concept in American military history,” he said. “And by God, the 506 is gonna forge that brand-new concept into victory.”

Joe couldn’t help a smile as he cheered in agreement with the rest of the room. He heard George’s excited cheer behind him and wished he could see George’s face.

“I want you to know that I’m damn proud of each and every one of you,” Sink continued. “Now, you deserve this party.”

Chuck handed a glass of beer up to Sink in a gesture of everybody’s appreciation.

“Thank you, Sergeant Grant,” Sink said. He raised his glass in a toast to all of them. “So I want you to have fun, and remember our motto: Currahee!”

“Currahee!” they all shouted, raising their glasses. There was a round of whistles and applause as the music grew loud again, when Joe turned back around to face George, he was wearing that beaming smile again.

“Well, you heard the man,” George said, mischief in his pretty brown eyes. “Let’s have some fun.”

And oh, if that didn’t set Joe’s heart a-flutter. Joe hid behind his drink as he downed the dregs, gesturing for George to get him another.

“Hey, Toye, come here!”

Joe looked over at where Bill and Johnny were setting up a game of darts, waving Joe over.

“One minute,” Joe called. He looked back at George. “You comin’ or what, shorty?”

George just grinned and came around the bar to Joe’s side. Maybe it was the beer, or the sense of camaraderie that warmed the whole room, or the fact that Joe just couldn’t stand to be so close to George without touching him; but Joe slung an arm over George’s shoulder as they walked over to the dartboard, and Joe was pleasantly surprised to feel George move closer to him.

George hung on Joe’s arm practically the whole game, moving right back to his side when he came back from his turn. Joe wasn’t playing his best - he’d a few too many to be playing like he usually did - but he didn’t care, not when George was all flushed and giggly and thought Joe was the best dart player he’d ever seen.

When Bill had wiped the floor with them, Joe declined a rematch and patted down his pockets for a cigarette.

“You got a smoke?” he asked George, coming up with only a lighter.

“Sure,” George said, fishing a crumpled pack of Lucky Strikes out of his pocket. “You want some company?”

To keep from blurting out that he’d like George’s company for the rest of his life, Joe just nodded. He put his hand on George’s back as he weaved through the crowd, noticing the brunette was a little unsteady on his feet and deciding to use his broad shoulders to his advantage in clearing a path.

When they were outside, Joe took a deep breath of the warm night air that felt so different from summer nights back home. He looked over at George, who was struggling to get the cigarettes out of the pack; he chuckled to himself and took the pack from George’s hands.

“Here, I got it,” Joe said. He stuck two cigarettes in his mouth and lit them, handing one over to George and putting the pack back in George’s pocket.

George took a long drag and blew it out upwards, towards the vast and inky sky. “Thanks.” He looked over at Joe and grinned. “I’m kinda drunk.”

Joe chuckled. “No shit.”

George giggled, a sound Joe would never get tired of. “Yeah, well, it’s Sink’s fault. He did say for us to have fun.”

“And you had enough for all of us, huh?” Joe teased.

“Well, we are America’s best and the brightest,” George said. “Only reasonable that we should be the drunkest too.”

Joe laughed. “Whatever you say, kid.”

Joe let George talk about whatever he wanted while they smoked, happy to listen to George ramble on about being free of Sobel and imitating Sink’s proud address nearly perfectly, minus the slurring of some words. Joe finished his cigarette and put it out with the heel of his boot; he took George’s from him, burnt down to the filter as George had forgotten to smoke it while he talked, and put it out too.

“You wanna go back in?” Joe asked.

“Probably best if I don’t,” George said with a laugh. “Are you going back in?”

Joe looked back at the door, hearing the muffled music and sounds of laughter, and knew he’d rather be out here in the quiet with George.

“Nah,” Joe said. “I’ll probably walk around for a bit. You wanna come?”

George didn’t answer; he just tucked himself close to Joe’s side, holding on to Joe’s arm to steady himself as they walked slowly back towards barracks. Joe didn’t really have a destination in mind; all he knew was that he wanted to stay this close to George for as long as he could. 

George looked up at Joe with that grin that made Joe weak in the knees. “Can you believe we’re paratroopers, Joey?”

 _Joey_? No one had ever called him that, not even his family. He liked the way it sounded in George’s voice.

“I mean, we actually survived Sobel,” George continued. “We ran up that fuckin’ mountain more than anybody else, we jumped out of planes...” He looked down at his jump wings. “We got these. And hey! Sobel can’t revoke our passes for having our pants bloused any more, huh?”

Joe chuckled. “I guess not,” he agreed. It was kind of surreal, he had to admit; all their hard work had finally paid off. Like everybody else, he’d heard the rumors of Easy being shipped out now that they were certified, and he knew it would come eventually. It was starting to feel real and less like a summer camp from hell run by a fussy C.O.

“Wouldja blouse my pants for me, Joey?” George asked. “I never do it right. Sobel would still find a way to get me in trouble.”

“Sure thing, kiddo,” Joe promised with a smile. He caught George when he tripped over his own feet. “Easy.”

George laughed. “Hey, that’s us.” He looked up at Joe again, all smiles and pink cheeks. “I’m glad I’m with you, Joe. I wouldn’t wanna go to war with anybody else.”

Joe was about to say he felt the same when George’s smile faltered.

“What is it?” Joe asked.

George looked out towards Currahee, quiet for a moment. “We’re really going to war, aren’t we?”

Joe sighed. “Yeah, probably sooner rather than later.”

George bit his lip, considering that. “It’s funny.”

“Hm?”

“If I’d known I was gonna have to go to war, I might have been a little riskier back home,” George said thoughtfully. “Maybe kissed a few boys.”

Joe blinked. “What?”

When George gave him a cheeky smile, Joe knew he’d heard him right; he brought them to a halt, right in the middle of the road between third platoon’s barracks. 

“You - wait - you _what_?” Joe spluttered.

George laughed and swung around to face Joe, still holding on to his arm. “Do I have to repeat myself, Corporal?” he asked in his Sobel voice again, which just made the situation all the more stunning for Joe.

George gentled when he saw Joe was well and truly taken aback, giving him a sweet smile.

“I might have kissed a few boys,” he repeated patiently, moving closer to Joe. “Nearly every girl in Fall River has gotten the George Luz special at one time or another, but never any of the guys.”

Joe didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ask a million questions, the first one being _you’re into guys?!_ , but he settled for the one he knew he should ask.

“You sure you wanna be telling me this?”

George scoffed. “I’m not _that_ drunk.”

Joe was a little doubtful - he knew he would have to be pretty damn drunk to start talking about kissing boys in the middle of an army base - but he didn’t argue. He was just glad George was spilling his guts to him instead of somebody else. Not that he thought anybody in their company would rat George out - especially since he had the feeling that more than a few of them played for the other team - but Joe knew better than anyone that it was always better to be safe than sorry.

George tipped his face up towards the sky; Joe put his hand on George’s back to steady him, studying the way the moonlight made his features sharper. 

“Why _are_ you telling me, George?” Joe asked gently. He took it as a compliment that George didn’t feel like he had to ask Joe not to tell anybody, but it surprised Joe a little to know he hadn’t been as subtle about his attraction as he thought he’d been. Then again, what was a guy supposed to do, surrounded by strapping young men all the time? Hell, what was he supposed to do with George walking around with Joe’s heart in his hands?

George blushed. “Well, you... I mean, I thought...” He seemed more shy about Joe’s sexuality than his own, even though they were the only ones around, and Joe found it terribly endearing.

Joe gave a crooked smile. “Thought what? That I liked guys?”

George blushed deeper. “I mean... yeah. Don’t you?”

 _Not just any guys_ , Joe thought. “Yeah,” he said simply. “I do.”

“Have you ever kissed a boy?”

Joe couldn’t help a chuckle. “Sure, a few times.” There wasn’t much opportunity for it back home, and he’d been too wary to try it here. Besides, the only boy he wanted to kiss was standing right in front of him, and Joe was much too lost in George to think about anybody else.

George looked a little wistful. “What if I die without kissing any boy, ever?”

Joe was torn between laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of everything that came out of George’s mouth and feeling that weight of war and fear looming over them.

“You’re not gonna die, George,” Joe said.

George shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“Well...” Joe sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t know how to comfort George; they both knew there was no guarantee they’d come out unscathed or even alive. Joe didn’t like to dwell on it, but he knew what it was like when the thought suddenly took hold of you and wouldn’t let you go. But there was more to life than that, and Joe wasn’t about to let it pass them by; not when the chance might never come again.

He took George’s hand and pulled him into the shadows, between two barracks that were still empty as their buddies continued to celebrate the end of their training. The gravel crunched under their boots and Joe felt like his heart was beating hard enough to be heard, with George so close and so honest and so endearingly nervous.

“You’re right,” Joe said after a moment. George looked up at him with those sweet brown eyes, waiting for him to continue, his lips bowed and soft and nearly irresistible. 

“I don’t know that you’re not gonna die,” Joe said. “But...”

Slowly, giving George the chance to stop it, Joe leaned close and gave George a gentle kiss. It was probably the most chaste kiss Joe had ever given, but that didn’t matter; George was just as sweet as he thought he’d be, warm and soft and lovely. Joe put his hand to George’s cheek and George leaned into his touch.

“I do know one thing,” Joe said gently. “You’re not gonna die without kissing a boy.”

George gave him a dopey smile then, his cheeks flushed and any hint of nervousness gone from his expression as he looked at Joe with something so close to love it took Joe’s breath away.

“Thanks,” George said, a little dazedly.

Joe chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

“Can you... kiss me again?”

Joe gave him that same half-smile he had at the bar, touching his fingers to George’s jaw and drawing him close again. He kissed George deeper this time, tasting beer and cigarette smoke, feeling George’s smile against his mouth.

When they came up for air, George was flushed and grinning ear to ear.

“I knew you wanted to kiss me,” he said cheekily. “I could tell, earlier, when you practically dragged me across the bar.”

“You think so, huh?” Joe said coolly. He tugged on George's lapel. “That's why you decided to spring all that stuff about ‘taking risks’ on me?”

George laughed. “Maybe. If I’m gonna jump out of an airplane behind enemy lines, I figure I ought to live a little.”

“And you want me in on that?” Joe asked.

George looked up at Joe like he hung the moon, and Joe had never felt that loved before.

“Yeah,” George said simply. He put his hand over Joe’s jump wings, right where his heart beat. “Besides, I have a thing for big burly guys in uniform.”

Joe smirked. “I’m sure Bull will be happy to hear that.”

George laughed. “You know he actually gave me a talk about it?” He puffed out his chest and tried to make his short frame as close to Bull’s as he could. 

“ _Now, son, I know you like Toye_ ,” George said, imitating Bull’s Arkansas drawl flawlessly. “ _And I’m happy for ya, but just be careful, alright_?”

Joe gave an incredulous laugh. “He said that? To you?”

George grinned. “Yep. He pulled me aside when we were heading out to run Currahee, because I’d been admiring you in your PT gear. Apparently I wasn’t being very subtle.”

Joe tried to think back to a day he’d noticed George ever looking at him like that; he found it surprising that he couldn’t, considering how often he’d been the one ogling George.

“Well, I’ll tell ya one thing, Georgie,” Joe said, noticing the sweet smile George had at the nickname. “We’re gonna have a hell of a time being careful now that you let me kiss you.”

George grinned. “Oh yeah?”

“Game’s up,” Joe confirmed. “All bets are off. I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do when I feel like kissing you, now that I know how nice it is.”

George looked around them, the shadows of the barracks and the little bit of privacy they afforded in a place that rarely gave any. “It’s kind of exciting, this whole ‘sneaking off into the night’ routine, don’t you think?”

Joe chuckled. “We should do it more often,” he agreed.

George put his arms around Joe’s neck, leaning into Joe’s hands on his back that moved to draw him closer on instinct.

“And there’s bound to be lots of places to sneak around on a troop ship,” he teased. “Maybe even in some foxholes.”

Joe laughed. “Sure. While the Krauts are shelling us, I’ll be kissing you, everybody else be damned.”

George smiled, and Joe thought he could bask in the glow of that smile for the rest of his life and never grow tired of it.

“Kinda like that Jimmy Dorsey song, huh?” George asked. 

Joe smiled. “Which one?”

“ _Let’s defrost in a romantic mist,_ ” George sang, “ _Let’s get crossed off everybody’s list_. _To celebrate this night we’ve found each other, let’s get lost._ ”

Joe laughed. “Sure, if you want to. Where are we goin’, Georgie?”

“Doesn’t matter,” George said. “‘Cause wherever we’re going, I’ll be with you.”

Joe leaned down to kiss George again, and George put his hands to Joe’s face as if memorizing the feel of him. They stayed nose to nose when they broke apart, and for a moment, there was nothing else in the world but them. Joe forgot about his new jump wings, the heat of the Georgia night, the war that loomed; there was only George Luz, and Joe had never felt so sure about anything in his life.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Wherever we’re going, we’ll go there together.”

George chuckled. “Hell of an idea, Joey.” George kissed him that time, and Joe could feel his smile. “Hell of an idea.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
